Tin Popping - Three Day Rule

[rushx9]

Thank you for a thoughtful post (rant). I am just getting back into pipe smoking after being away from it for 25 years. I have smoked cigars, however, for many years. Any tips on a good starter tobacco? What about pipe filters? I stopped smoking pipes because my tongue always seemed sore. I love the aroma of pipe tobacco and would like to enjoy it as much and as long as possible. Perhaps being young and without any couching or forums like this one, I can avoid any pitfalls.
Thanks in advance.

As far as recommendations, it's kind of tough if I don't know what flavors you naturally lean toward. Some say to start with aros and some say start with natural blends. I'd say start with what smells good to you so you may have to visit a b&m to figure that out. Just smoke slow and easy and dry the tobacco adequately and you should be able to learn to avoid hurting your tongue fairly quickly. I've never used a charcoal or any 9mm filter so I can't speak to their effectiveness, but I have a couple of pipes that use Medico filters and I find they work at absorbing some moisture and collecting particulate but won't really stop tongue burn if you smoke too hot. Many people never use filters but many Europeans swear by them and a lot of tobacco produced for the EU, especially Germany, come more moist than others because it's expected that carbon filters will be used. There are several good threads on this site about smoking slowly (breath smoking) and avoiding tongue bite.

 

[TimothyC]

Great! Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Dissident_Mantis]

When my buddy was locked up, he ended up having to smuggle in a Missouri Meerschaum legend and few ounces of pipe tobacco. I'm not gonna tell you where he hid it, but it was certainly humid...talk about turning into shit dust tho.

 

[BROBS]

 

[rushx9]

When my buddy was locked up, he ended up having to smuggle in a Missouri Meerschaum legend and few ounces of pipe tobacco. I'm not gonna tell you where he hid it, but it was certainly humid...talk about turning into shit dust tho.

Yikes! I think I'd rather give it up for a while than have to cornhole a cob load! Was it a MacArthur or a Legend?

 

[BROBS]

FREEHAND

 

[Dissident_Mantis]

Yikes! I think I'd rather give it up for a while than have to cornhole a cob load! Was it a MacArthur or a Legend?

He said it was a legend. He saw me smoking mine and told me the story. I have no idea why he wanted to do that, but I guess you just get really bored in there.

 

[snoopy311]

I do this as well, usually open a tin and jar it for a couple of weeks. I find many tobaccos seam to taste better after a period of being opened, but not all tobaccos get better. Personal taste I’m guessing.

 

[karam]

I had the following experience with GLP's Gaslight: opened the tin and was met with a horrible amonia smell, overpowering even the Latakia.

I shredded a bowlful and proceeded to smoke it straight away in anticipation of a great smoke based on my tastes and the reviews I read. It was a terrible experience, the amonia smell was now amonia taste, overpowering everything. I could just taste some Latakia and nothing else, but I soldiered through the bowl and considered using it for blending.

A week later I opened the tin again and thankfully the amonia was very diminished, I shredded another bowlful but this time left it out for 30 minutes to dry out, loaded up and went to walk our dog. I had one of the best smokes in a while, I found it tastes along the lines of my beloved Nightcap but actually a bit sweeter, overall an amazing smoke. Now I am considering buying it bulk! Further to the blend's defense, most of the reviews do recommend a short drying time.

 

[yaroslaw]

Hey, thanks for that post, never heard of that.
Tried Amphora Original from a friend, it was bone dry, and I liked it. My friend suggested rehumidifying it, but I packed as is.
So I bought a pack yesterday, opened it - and I see it definitely needs open time. Especially when I packed small cob and was almost disgusted with savouriness and tong bite even after almost an hour of drying. If I hadn't smoked dried out from a friend and read your post I would probably have thrown it away!

So a quick clarification - it needs to be opened for a few days to really dry out? It's wet and overly topped with aromatics.

 

[rushx9]

So a quick clarification - it needs to be opened for a few days to really dry out? It's wet and overly topped with aromatics.

With a tin, it's not as much about drying as it is about letting the contents re-oxidize. Some folks, including myself, prefer dry tobacco so it's okay to leave it open until it gets to your preferred level of humidity. With pouches, even good ones, they tend to be wet with humectants so I air them out for a few hours or overnight, then try to forget about it for several days to a week before trying again.

 

[AlabamaDan]

I’m so glad y’all shared this tip. It can make the difference in a new pipers experience.

 

[mikestanley]

Same thing happens to a can of coffee. You never get that wonderful aroma that you get from a can just opened.
Mike S.

 

[cigrmaster]

As soon as I get a new tin in I crack that bitch and have at it.

 

[mso489]

Good observation in the original post. It varies from blend to blend, tin to tin, but it's true. For me, about half of blends smoke well just opened, but get somewhat better. The rest require time to show the best they have. And some I just don't like, but I've learned what I like over the years, so usually I'm pleased.

 

[Magpiety]

It's interesting that you've noticed such a distinct change at such a distinct time, i'll have to pay attention.

I have open tins everywhere because I'm a caveman, and they still taste good to me.

 

[Akousticplyr]

Same thing happens to a can of coffee. You never get that wonderful aroma that you get from a can just opened.
Mike S.

had a flash of someone trying to smoke a bowl of coffee... Hahahahaha

“Bean, course grind or fine?” Hazelnut aromatic? LOL

 

[crashthegrey]

This is all why tobacco tins and jars just should never be opened.

This is next level pipe smoking. It's like the Schrödinger's cat of pipe smoking. The tobacco is neither great nor terrible, and cannot change. But we can imagine how good it is. Our pipes can smoke exactly as amazing as we expect if we don't use them, too. Eventually we'll all sit here telling each other how great everything is without consuming any tobacco products...

 

[greeneyes]

I opened a fairly aged tin of a Samuel Gawith-made Latakia flake last year. I tasted a flake almost immediately and was surprised at how awful it was.

I considered whether to throw it away or keep it, in case someone else wanted to try it.

After a few weeks I decided to try it again. I didn't expect the transformation, but the flake is now delicious. One of the best I've had.

On the other hand, there are several tobaccos, and I believe they're mostly German, that slowly lose flavor/punch/character over time. Sadly with these blends the first few bowls really are magnificent and after time they begin to lose their 'oomph' as whatever volatile ingredients slowly flash off and leave the less colorful base tobaccos behind.

 

[jpmcwjr]

<< Snipped bits out >>
On the other hand, there are several tobaccos, and I believe they're mostly German, that slowly lose flavor/punch/character over time. Sadly with these blends the first few bowls really are magnificent and after time they begin to lose their 'oomph' as whatever volatile ingredients slowly flash off and leave the less colorful base tobaccos behind.

Aromatics? What blends are you referring to? Over what period of time?